My House of Horrors

Third Hospital’s Staff Residence looked old and battered. There was not even a guard post. Chen Ge glanced at the rooms on the first floor and realized that none of the rooms there had a room number.

The rental notice only stated Room 304. How am I supposed to find it?

Chen Ge stood at the entrance holding the backpack. He wanted to find someone to ask for direction. Ten minutes later, a high-schooler entered the area on an e-bike.

“Hello, do you mind telling which building Room 304 is in?” Chen Ge spoke when he was quite far away. He did not want to spook the kid.

“Room 304? That sounds familiar.” The high-schooler stopped the bike and pointed toward the residential area. “Should be somewhere inside, I’m not sure.”

“I have another question if you don’t mind. Has any weird stuff happened in this residential area before?” Chen Ge tried to make himself look as friendly as possible. “After all, the Electrical Plant’s Residence is as old as this place, but theirs is livelier and more exciting.”

“I don’t think so…” The kid looked at Chen Ge guardedly, thinking that the man was weird.

“Yawen! Who are you talking to?” A middle-aged woman’s voice came down from the third floor. Chen Ge turned to look and saw a woman in pajamas looking at Chen Ge with caution and waving for the high-schooler to come home.

“Coming.” The high-schooler pushed off and quickly left.

“Wait a minute!” Chen Ge did not want to miss this opportunity. He was there to take the drawer, so he did not want to make things so complicated. He then yelled at the lady upstairs, “Sister, do you know which building has Room 304?”

He shouted that once, but after that, all the lights in the building switched off simultaneously.

“Is it that serious?” Only the middle-aged woman’s home had its lights on.

“Walk down there. The third floor of the first building on your left.” The lady’s face was dark, and when she returned to her own home, the light was turned off as well.

What is with this reaction? Chen Ge did not leave instantly but quietly tailed the high-schooler. The kid, who did not know anything, parked his bike and went up the stairs.

“Mum, what are we having tonight?”

The kid was opening the door when the middle-aged woman could be heard yelling, “Don’t touch the door! Stomp your feet on the ground before coming in!”

“Mum, what are you saying? I just came back from a long study session, and I’m tired.”

“Stop arguing with your mom!” The woman’s voice suddenly turned up like she was incredibly angry. It shocked Chen Ge, who was hiding on the second floor. The kid followed the order unwillingly. Then the woman opened the door, her lips mumbling, “The child doesn’t know anything. Please forgive him…”

She repeated it several times before allowing the kid to enter the room. “Remove your clothes. I’ll wash them for you.”

“But just I changed this morning!”

“No dinner if you don’t change.”

The door on the third floor slowly closed. Chen Ge walked out from the stairwell, thinking to himself, What’s with the people at this place?

The chance of winning the drawer was one in one hundred. Xu Yin’s was three in one hundred, so technically speaking, the drawer was just slightly stronger than Xu Yin. However, it should not be a Red Specter. So be it, I need to get the thing before night falls.

Probably due to his shout earlier, the number of rooms with their lights on had decreased dramatically. Chen Ge found the building that the woman mentioned and did not sense anything weird when he stepped into it. The place looked old and had been abandoned for a long time already. He came to the third floor, and there were two adjacent rooms. Neither of them had a room number, but the one of the left had a contact number pasted on the door.

Is this Room 304?

Chen Ge took out his phone to call the number. It only rang twice before it was picked up. “Thank you for calling Yi Ju Real Estate, how can we help you?”

“It’s like this. I’m interested in a room you’re renting in Third Hospital’s Staff Residence. I’m in the area, so if it’s not too much trouble, can I look at the place tonight?”

“Please wait a minute. I’ll ask our agent who is responsible for that area.”

After a while, the reply came. “He just got off from work, but I’ve reported your situation to him. He’s currently heading your way. This is his number…”

“Thank you.”

Around ten minutes later, a man in a black shirt, holding a suitcase, stopped outside the building. He looked around thirty and very friendly. “This is such a coincidence. My home is nearby. If you want to look anywhere else, you’d have had to wait until tomorrow.”

“Sounds like fate if you ask me.” Chen Ge chuckled, thinking about how he could shuttle the drawer away without the man noticing. “How about we go take a look at the room?”

“Sure.” The man was obviously scared, looking at the darkened stairwell, but he did not show it on his face. “Come with me.”

He took out his phone to use as a flashlight and started his sales pitch. “This area is not bad. It has plenty of nearby amenities like a hospital, school, library, and so on. Plus, the price is cheap.”

He took out a cluster of keys when they reached the third floor. With the aid of Yin Yang Vision, Chen Ge realized that every key was taped with a number. The man prepared to use the key to Room 305.

“Is this Room 304?” Chen Ge asked.

Hearing that, the keys almost fell from the man’s fingers. He turned to laugh drily at Chen Ge. “This is Room 305. Room 304 is haunted, so how could we…”

“I want Room 304. I don’t mind its history as long as the price is right. Bring me to Room 304,” Chen Ge said firmly. The man gripped the key to Room 304, but he did not dare open the door.

The stalemate continued for a long time before he moved to the door with a saddened face. “If I knew you’re interested in Room 304, I wouldn’t have come.”

He pushed the key into the door. “The price for Room 304 is half of Room 305, but I have to tell you some things just in case you complain to me later.”

“What is it?” Chen Ge focused; he had a feeling that he had won an unusual drawer.

“The first tenant of Room 304 was a gambler. He put the house on sale to clear the debt that he owed the loan sharks, but it was not enough. In the end, the man jumped out from the window of his room and died.”

“That’s the cause of it being haunted?”

“When I tell you the truth, you won’t want to rent this place anymore.” The man pushed the door open. “He committed suicide after midnight. When the police arrived, they realized that one of his arms had been chopped off, but even now, no one knows where the missing arm is.”